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i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # 






\ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

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THE WATCH; 

ITS CONSTRUCTION, ITS MERITS AND DEFECTS, 

HOW TO CHOOSE IT, 



-AND- 



HOW TO USE IT. 

ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS. 



BY H. F. PIAGET, 

A Watchmaker of forty years practical experience. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A SHORT ESSAY ON CLOCKS, 

AND HOW TO USE THEM. 




NEW YORK: 

FRINTK1> BY C. VINTKN, 100 NASSAU ST.. FOE TTIE AUTHOS, 32 JOHN 8T. 

Where it can be had Wholesale and Retail. 



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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 

H. F. PIAGET, 

in the Clerk's Office, of the District Court of the United States, 
for the Southern District of New York. 









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DEDICATION 



TO MY MOST ESTEEMED FEIEND, 

MR. FERDINAND THIERIOT, 

THIS ESSAY 
IS MOST KESPEOTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOB, 

HENRY F. PIAGET, 

John Street, New York. 



PREFACE. 



No one doubts that it requires a certain skill to make 
or mend a watch, yet many doubt that it requires cer- 
tain knowledge to choose one, and when chosen, cer- 
tain care to use it. 

Care will go a long way, but not all the way ; to 
care must be added some knowledge to give the right 
direction to its exercise. 

My lengthened experience has taught me that num- 
bers of valuable watches are often ruined by the want 
of care or skill in their use, and then the blame is laid 
at the door of the watchmaker. 

A man buys an expensive watch, and naturally ex- 
pects it to perform well ; he misuses it, and it either 
stops altogether, or performs badly ; he exclaims, u I 
have been duped in buying that watch." He takes it 
to a third party to set it to rights ; that done, he again 
misuses it, or some unavoidable disarrangement hap* 
pens to it, he then declaims against all watches and 
watchmakers. 

Thus a watch which should be an article of use and 
ornament to its owner, is too often only a source of 
vexation and expence. 



PREFACE. 

Now I propose partly to remedy tins, not by at- 
tempting to make every one his own watchmaker, 
but by imparting, in a familiar manner, such practical 
hints of the construction, and the use of a watch, as 
will enable them to use it properly, and guard against 
some of the annoyances and expenses, which without 
such information they are liable to incur, as well as 
prevent the watchmaker or repairer being frequently 
erroneously blamed. 

The inexperienced in the trade will also find many 
suggestions which may be useful to them, for they 
must know that a good watchmaker is not always a 
good repairer ; for owing to the variety of different 
kinds of watches that pass through his hands, practice 
must be added to knowledge and skill, to properly re- 
pair a watch. My life having been devoted to my pro- 
fession, I have had neither the time nor opportunity to 
cultivate the graces of phraseology. The following is 
my first essay at authorship, and I ask for it the indul- 
gence as to its literary merits, always so benignly ex- 
tended to maiden efforts. I have endeavored to put 
down what I had to say plainly and intelligibly, striv- 
ing rather to state useful facts, in a manner to make 
myself clearly understood, than to manufacture a mass 
of nicely worded sentences, signifying nothing ; for be 
it known " I am a plain blunt man, who only speak 
right on, and tell but that which I myself do know." 



REMARKS Otf TIMEKEEPERS 



Toward the middle of the sixteenth century springs 
were applied instead of weights as the maintaining 
power to timepieces, thus enabling them to be made 
small and portable ; but these pieces, now called watches, 
were imperfect machines, going with even less precision 
than an old clock ; they had only an hour hand, and 
most o± them required winding twice a-day. Scarcely 
more than a century has elapsed since watches were 
nearly completed, with the exception of the external 
parts, by individual labor alone. 

The art of watch making is now divided into more 
than thirty or forty different branches, according to the 
different kind of watch made. By machinery and a 
division of labor, watches are now made at a much 
lower price than formerly ; but for their greater per- 
fection we are indebted to improved principles. The 
English were the first successful manufacturers of 
watches; all the escapements applied to good ones, 
whether at home or abroad, were invented by them. 
It is true that many ingenious contrivances have been 



introduced at different times by French and Swiss ar- 
tists, but they themselves have ceased to apply them ; 
and with the exception of the vertical (the inventor of 
which is unknown), they generally adopt those princi- 
ples only, which were first devised by English watch- 
makers. The horizontal, or cylinder escapement, by 
Graham, the lever escapement by Mudge, the duplex, 
invented by Dr. Hook and perfected by Tyrer, while 
the detached or chronometer escapement, although, in- 
vented by Berthoud, is indebted for its accuracy to the 
improvements by Arnold, Earnshaw and Dent. 

The discovery of the art of piercing holes in rubies 
for pivot-holes to watches, is attributed to M. Fazio, a 
native of Geneva, who having failed in his attempt to 
get his plan adopted in Paris, went to London in 1700, 
where the art of watchmaking was rapidly advancing. 
He was well received, and his plan being very generally 
adopted, added greatly to the reputation of English 
watches. The rubies are still used in good watches ; 
they are the hardest stones that can be drilled ; but at 
the present time cheap watches are jewelled with all 
kinds of stones, as chrystals, garnets, &c, they being 
cheaper : English and American watches have however 
usually the jewel over the upper part of the balance 
made of diamond, it does not require to have a hole 
through it, the pivot resting on the end instead of a 
shoulder, as in the wheels, on account of the extreme 
freedom required. The English, being a maratime na- 
tion, their attention was early directed to the improve- 
ment of marine chronometers, and their researches en- 
abled them to give an accuracy to pocket watches, 
which rendered them preferable to all others. The 



8 

French have never been able to establish a large or per- 
manent manufacture of watches, although from the ex- 
ertion of several eminent men, as Le Roy, Breguet, and 
Lepine, they have produced them of a very superior 
class. They were the first to reduce the size of the old 
watch, and from the high price not unfrequently given, 
they could afford to bestow much care and time upon 
the construction, so as to produce astonishing precision 
in the small watches, The Swiss have become the 
largest manufacturers of watches in the world ; this 
arises partly from the absence of other branches of 
industry, but principally from the low price of labor, 
and also from the number of females and children who 
work at the business, (the writer commenced when 
only seven years old,) enabling them to be produced at 
so low a rate as to have entirely superceded the French 
watch. The cheap and showy watches which inundate 
the windows of jewelers, dealers in trinkets, &c, in 
every country, as well as those advertised as so cheap, 
are principally of Swiss manufacture ; but if English, 
they are generally of an inferior quality. 

In the reign of William III, of England, it was con- 
sidered necessary to pass an act obliging watch makers 
to put their names upon all their watches, to prevent 
the discredit to which the manufacture was exposed 
from the bad watches sold abroad as English. 

Different governments have endeavoured to enforce 
protecting duties. Twenty years ago, all foreign 
watches imported into France for the purpose of sale, 
had to be stamped, to show that they were not of 
French make, and that the duty had been paid ; — this 
stamp (a bull's head) could be seen on nearly all 



watches sold in Paris at this time. It was generally 
put upon the pendant, but occasionally on other parts 
of the case. In England there was a duty of twenty- 
five per cent, on the importation of foreign watches 
for sale. Those for private use were admitted on a 
fine of five shillings each ; and a recent law enacts that 
they shall have the maker's name and place of abode 
engraved upon the movements. 

There is, however, no stamp, as there is in France, 
and smuggling is carried on to such an extent as to 
render the. duty ineffective as a protection to trade, and 
of little value to the revenue ; while in many instances, 
where the duty has been paid, fresh names are engraved 
upon them, and they are sold as having been made in 
England, For the protection of the American manu- 
facture of watches, some plan should be adopted to be 
enabled to distinguish the genuine from the false, for 
the American watch is at the present time imitated 
abroad, and many persons may yet be deceived when 
they think they are encouraging home manufacture, 
are wearing watches (the case perhaps excepted,) of 
foreign make, 

"Watches and movements are imported in this coun- 
try, particularly the cheap kinds, which have the name 
of some celebrated maker engraved on ; others, with 
the names of makers long extinct, or of some which 
never existed. This can only be prevented by applying 
to an honest and upright watchmaker or dealer, who 
will not deceive you, if he values his reputation. 

More rapid production and better workmanship in 
the detached pieces or parts, are the natural results of 
a well matured system of division ot labor; but sub- 



division for cheapness alone, is destructive to the unity 
necessary to produce a good watch ; hence while low- 
ness of price is a point of competition, (and to meet 
the demands of society it always will be,) the greater 
number of watches must be of an inferior kind. 

The great difficulty of establishing this manufacture, 
even under the most favorable circumstances, has been 
amply shown by the failure of those in France ; while 
those in Germany have been equally unsuccessful. 

There are manufactories of watches in this country 
which make a very good time-keeper, and are con- 
tinually improving ; but a great help to them would be 
a heavier duty on foreign watches and movements. 
This I hope will be done, and that the American watch 
will be successful. The English and Swiss are now the 
sole exporters of watches, and they may be said to 
supply the world. Swiss watches are handsome — their 
size also in perfect accordance with the present taste — 
and did the production of the two countries differ in 
price only, this manufacture would be lost to England 
as it has been to France. 



THE CO^STKUCTION" OF WATCHES. 

A clock has a combination of wheels to mark the 
number of oscillations made by a pendulum. A watch 
is a similar combination to mark the number of vi- 
brations made by a balance. The wheels of a clock 
may be impelled by a weight, and the time measured by 
a pendulum ; but as the watch must go in all positions, 
neither the weight nor the pendulum can be applied 
to it. 



6 




The power of motion in a watch is produecd by 
means of a spiral spring, usually called the main spring, 
placed in a drum or barrel, which 
when wound round a centre will 
from its elasticity cause the barrel 
to make as many revolutions as 
there are turns made by the spring. 
Time is measured in a watch by the 
vibrations of a balance, which if mo- 
Main Spring. ^» D g - n e q Ua ] S p ace? w [\\ make all 

the vibrations in equal time. 

The escapement is the name given to that part of the 
watch which transmits the power from the wheels to 
keep up the vibrations of the balance; the escapement 
also prevents acceleration of the wheels, by holding 
them in check until the balance has completed its vi- 
bration. If the force exerted by the unfolding of the 
spring be equally transferred through the wheels to 
the escapement, and if the impulse given by the escape 
ment to keep up the vibration of the balance be equal, 
then will the motion of the balance be also regular, and 
the watch will measure equal time. But the force of 
the spring is unequal — it is strongest when fully wound, 
and becomes weaker as it uncoils. To compensate this 
inequality, a cone is employed with a spiral groove, 
called a Fuzee, to which is attached the first wheel. 

The wheels of a watch are thus called : — The wheel 
on the fuzee is the first wheel ; the centre wheel, the 
pinion of which carries the minute hand; the second, 
or centre, the one which in ordinary watches carries 
the second hand ; the fourth, and the next, the escape 
wheel. In the old rack-lever watches there is one 



wheel less, the second hand being carried on the pinion 
of the escape wheel ; the second hand then went very 
fast round, hut these kind of watches are nearly out of 
use, many of them having been altered to the present 
lever escapement. 

The going ftizee, invented by Harrison, to make a 
watch continue to go while being wound up, and used 
in all good English watches, has an auxiliary spring, 
through wLich the force of the main 
spring is carried to the wheels. 
While the watch is being wound, 
a ratchet and click prevent the re- 
f action of the auxiliary spring which 
therefore continues to act during the 




Auxiliary Spring. 


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Maintaining Pow 
Click, and Sprin 


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Barrel. Fuzee 
and Chain. 


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of the main spring is then taken off. The fuzee is con- 
nected with the barrel containing the spring, by a 
chain, with hooks at each end. In winding the watch, 
the chain is wound off the barrel and around the fuzee. 
"When the watch is fully wound, the spring is at its 
greatest power, but the chain being then around the 
smallest part of the cone of the fuzee, the influence of 
the spring is at the smallest. 



8' 



As the watch goes down, the power of the spring- 
relaxes, hut as the cone enlarges, its influence increases, 
and when the spring is down, the chain is upon the- 
"base of the cone, where the influence of the spring is 
the greatest. Upon the shape of the cone of the fuzee r 
therefore, depends the quality of the maintaining pow- 
er. There is usually about half a turn of the weakest 
part of the spring left without action, to enable it to 
draw all the chain to the end, otherwise the watch 
would not run quit^ down ; that is regulated by a click 
and ratchet upon the barrel arbor.. 




Ratchet and Click. 

In some watches the ratchet and click are placed'un- 
der the dial, and cannot be seen by the wearer ; in 
others they are placed on the bar that holds the barrel,, 
and are easily seen on opening the watch. 

The fuzee, or cone, can not be introduced into 
very flat watches. The barrel therefore, instead of 
the fuzee, is attached to the first wheel, by the barrel 



having teeth cut at the sides, and is called the going 
barrel. 





Going Barrel, English Stop "Work. 

Stop works are necessary to every watch, particu- 
larly to those with chains, as to those without, the 
chain would be almost sure to break, particularly in 

thick English watches. In 
Swiss watches, and in all with 
going barrels, or without a 
chain, they are indispensable, 
(to a good watch) as by them 
the spring is regulated as near 
as possible in its action ; not 
to be too strong when fully 
Sw^oTwork. wound, nor too weak when 
nearly run down. A watch without stop works, " or 
one with imperfect ones," will be in danger of having 
the spring or some of the teeth of the barrel broken in 
winding. 

If the spring is wound up too tight it is much more 
liable to break v and when broken, if there are no stop 
works, the strain of the key comes on the teeth of the 
barrel, and if forced will frequently bend or break them. 




10 

[f the spring to a going barrel be well made, and! the 
wheels so constructed that only the middle turns of the 
spring are required to be in action, and not those turns 
of the spring in which it is at its greatest or least pow- 
er, the force may be sufficiently equal for ordinary pur- 
poses ; but where the fuzee can be applied it is prefer- 
able and certainly the best. 

The power of the spring is conveyed to the escape- 
ment through the wheels, and the arrangement is nearly 
the same in all watches, therefore their comparative 
value in this part of the construction depends entirely 
upon the skill of the workman and the quality of the 
materials. The power of the spring being equal, and 
the wheels and pinions properly constructed and placed 
correctly to act with each other, which is called " pitch- 
ing the ^depths." (This is a term used in wheel work, 
and it is necessary that the wheels and pinions be placed 
at proper distances from each other, or there is friction, 
cutting and noise in the action, which should not be in 
a good watch.) to convey the power to the escapement, 
and to keep up the vibration of the balance, constitutes 
the essential difference between one watch and another. 

A watch is described by the form of its escapement : 
there is the vertical, or verge watch, but as they are 
neady out of date for good watches, I shall not here 
describe them. 



Verge Escapement 



11 

'The horizontal, or cylinder watch, has the impulse 
given by the teeth of a horizontal wheel acting on a 
hollow cylinder, which forms the axis of the balance. 




7 

Horizontal Escapement. 

A lever, or anchor watch, has the impulse given by 
.-.a lever attached to anchor pallets. 




Lever, or Anchor Escapement. 

A -duplex watch is so called because it receives its 
impulse from a double wheel. 



12 




Duplex Escapement, 

A chronometer watch is that which has the vibra- 
tion of the balance free, or detached from the influence 
of the maintaining power, except at receiving its im 
pulse and unlocking. 




Chronometer Escapement. 



13 

Several escapements, such as the verge, the vergule, 
the rack lever, &c, had to be abandoned. My uncle, 
who was one of the most ingenious workmen in Switz- 
erland and London, and maker of musical watches and 
repeaters of every kind, and with whom I worked fif- 
teen years, spent upwards of five years in inventing and 
trying new escapements, but had to abandon the idea 
of making anything better. It was his opinion, and is 
also mine, from experience, that it will not be possible 
to get escapements with less friction, and that will 
maintain their accuracy better than the chronometer, 
duplex, or even lever, if properly made. Still I may 
be mistaken, as many things have been achieved within 
a quarter of a century, which would then have been 
thought fabulous. 

The balance of a watch is a wheel nicely poised upon 
its axis, having its greatest weight at its periphery. 

A balance properly placed, 
with its pivots in their holes, 
but resting on the points or 
ends, would, when put in mo- 
Balance fjBUfr. tion, revolve on its axis ; but 
if a spring so constructed as to bend in either direction 
in which the balance will turn, was to have one of its 
ends fastened to a point independent of the balance, while 
the other end was attached near to its axis, an impulse 
then given to the balance would only cause it to move 
as far as the force given was able to overcome the re- 
sistance of the spring, when the resistance becomes 
equal to the impulse given ; the balance stops for an 
instant, and then is driven back by the elasticity of the 
spring to a distance nearly double to that through which 





14 

it passed in its first motion, and thus continue to vibrate 
until the friction and the resistance of the air bring it 
to rest. 

A spring thus applied is call- 
ed the balance or hair spring, 
This spring has been frequent- 
ly noticed as illustrating the 
great value a small piece of 
steel may acquire from manual 
labor ; it is perhaps more re- 
markable for its extreme deli- 
balance and Hair Spring. Cacy, four thousand of them 

■weighing scarcely more than an ounce, while the cost 
frequently exceeds four thousand dollars when used for 
fine work. 

When the balance is at rest the spring is inclined 
neither way, this position is called the point of rest ; 
and the motion of the balance when influenced by the 
hair spring, is called vibration, 

The application of the balance or hair spring is the 
greatest improvement ever made in a watch ; since it 
rendered a comparatively useless machine capable of 
going with accuracy ; and now that the principle can 
be more easily applied, although perhaps not better un- 
derstood, it offers the means of measuring time equal to 
Ot pendulum. 

The first watches were made without any balance 
spring, but with a vertical wheel which moved the ba- 
lance backward and forward • and instead of the chain 
now used, there was only a piece of cord, like a very 
fine violin string, to convey the motive power of the 
main spring to the wheels. This balance spring can 



15 

produce astonishingly varied effects from difference in 
the length and tapering, the principle being the strong- 
er and shorter the spring the quicker will be the vi- 
brations. 

T-he hair spring of watches are made flat on account 
of the small space for them to work in ; but where 
there is room, the isochronal spring is applied. In ma- 
rine chronometers for the use of ships, they are made 
in a spherical form ; the thickness of the spring being 
the same the whole of its length instead of tapering, as 
they are easier of execution and better adapted for the 
regulation of time. 




Marine Chronometer Balance and Spherical Spring. 

These remarks will not be thought too detailed if we 
consider that the correctness of the watch as a mea- 
surer of time, is mostly dependent on the correct prin- 
ciple of the escapement and of the hair spring. 

The curb or regulator, is the part used for regulating 
the watch. The purpose is to shorten or limit the mo- 
tion of the balance to make the watch go faster, and to 
lengthen it to make the watch go slower. 

When a good watch has been produced, with the main 
spring acting with equal power from the instant of being 
fully wound to the termination of its time of going, the 



16 

wheels and pinions perfect in all their parts, the escape- 
ment on a good principle and properly executed, and 
the balance spring so perfect as to make all its vibra- 
tions in equal time, even then the watch will vary in 
the time. It will show a variation upon every change 
of temperature, unless it be compensatory. 

A watch may be said to be a metallic thermometer, 
for the slightest change in the temperature affects its 
going in proportion to the charge: heat enlarging the 
balance and lengthening the hair spring, (independently 
of the effect produced upon all the other parts) which 
will make a watch lose, while contraction from cold 
will make it gain. An action upon the balance, bring- 
ing the weight at its extremity nearer to the centre, 
will cause it to gain, and the same effect will be pro- 
duced by an action on the hair spring, which will ei- 
ther shorten its length or limit its motion ; and both of 
these means are made use of to make watches keep 
equal time in different degrees of temperature. 

When this effect is produced it is called compensa- 
tion, and is obtained from the different degrees of ex- 
pansion in metals, and for this purpose the compensa- 
ting balance is applied to good 
watches. The compensation ba- 
lance has its circumference com- 
posed of two metals, brass at the 
extremity and steel within : and 
as the rim is cut in two parts will 
expand or contract with every 
Compensation Balan . change of temperature. When 
heat causes expansion of the spring and balance, it also 
cts on the brass at the extremity, and causes that part 




17 

of the rim which is cut, to be brought nearer the cen- 
tre, and this motion is so regulated by means of screws 
or weights, as to compensate tor the expansion, and 
enable the watch to measure equal time, under the dif- 
ferent degrees of heat and cold. 

But compensation balances should not be used unless 
the other parts of the watch are perfect, otherwise 
they are not so good as the plain gold or steel round 
rim balance. I have always found the latter kinds to 
keep very good time, and where the price is limited, 
are to be preferred, as a bad compensation balance is 
but a detriment to an otherwise good watch. The 
compensation curb is frequently applied to watches. 
Its use is to limit or extend the motion of the balance 
spring, by a self moving action caused by change of 
temperature. The principle is the same as in a com- 
pensation balance, the motion being produced by the 
inequality of expansion in the two metals, (brass and 
steel,) of which it is made. 

There are many who expect an accuracy incompati- 
ble with the nature of the machine ; indeed, positive 
accuracy can never be obtained, until an unchangeable 
material is discovered, of which the work can be con- 
structed. 

One of the best time keepers and finely finished watch 
that I ever saw, was one made in Geneva, or Locle, 
which a friend of mine purchased in California, and I 
had it to clean. It had the plates and bars for 
the wheels made of nickle, the wheels were made 
of gold, it had a compensation balance, with isochronal 
hair spring ; in short it was a (chef d'ceuvre) for a Swiss 
watch, with an anchor escapement. 



18 

It is frequently forgotten that time differs in every 
spot east or west of the place at which the watch is set. 
At the present speed on rail roads, two hours travel- 
ling may make the travellers watch show some two or 
three minutes faster or slower, than the local time of 
the place at which he arrives. In this case, the dif- 
ference must he added or subtracted 10 avoid disapoint- 
ment when travelling. It has been said u that no man 
ever made a true circle or a straight line except by 
chance," and the same may be said of any machine 
which measures time exactly. These remarks neither 
lessen the perfection or usefulness of watches. They 
are among the highest specimens of human ingenuity, 
and indispensable in the present state of society. 



19 



THE SELECTION OF WATCHES. 



Were it possible to give rules for the selection of 
watches, society might be benefited, as the yonng man 
who has a bad watch is less likely to obtain habits of 
punctuality, than he who has a good one. I once 
heard an anecdote of two young persons who were al- 
lowed to select watches for themselves. One chose a 
plain watch, from being told that its performance 
could be depended upon. The other, attracted by the 
elegance of the case, decided upon one of inferior con- 
struction. The possessor of the good watch became 
remarkable for punctuality, while the other, although 
always in a hurry, was never in time, and discovered 
is a celebrated writer justly observes, u that next to 
being too late, there is nothing worse than being too 
early.'" Unfortunately, no efficient instruction can be 
given, as none but a workman possessing the highest 
knowledge of his art, is capable of forming a correct 
opinion, and a watch must be bad indeed for an inex- 
perienced eye to detect the defects, either in its princi- 
ple, or its construction. Even a trial of a year or two 
is no proof, for wear seldom takes place within that 
time ; and while a good watch if in order can but go 
well, a bad one may by chance occasionally do so. 

I have myself seen some of the old rack lever watches 
that were more than fifty years old, and worn con- 
stantly, nearly as good as new, by having been proper- 
ly attended to, and in time. It is not sufficient that a 
watch be well constructed, and on good principles. 

2 



20 

The brass must be hard, and the steel properly temper-* 
ed. The several parts mnst be in exact proportion, and 
•well finished, so as to continue in motion,, With the' 
least possible friction. It mnst "also be made so that 
when taken io pieces, all its parts may be replaced as* 
firmly as before. 

A watch thus constructed and properly adjusted,, 
will continue its motion and correct performance for 
years without trouble, and with little expense, except 
occasionally cleaning. A bad watch is one to which 
no more attention has been paid to the proportions of 
the parts or durability of materials, than was necessary 
to make it perform for a time. It is either the pro- 
duction of inefficient workmen, or of those who being 
limited in price, are unable to give sufficient time to 
perfect their work. There is a great fault, in many 
watches and movements, sent both from England and 
Switzerland — they are not properly examined, adjust- 
ed, and regulated before exported. 

Formerly, and it is still the case in many instances, 
the most eminent watchmakers were all practical work- 
men. At present there are but few manufacturers who 
work themselves, and if they do, have not time 
to see to every watch sent away. Those who value 
the reputation of their watches, have a practical work- 
man, one who understands thoroughly every branch of 
the business, who is called the examiner, whose duty 
it is to take every part, and see that it is properly made, 
adjusted, and put together on correct principles ; for 
where a piece of mechanism like a watch is made in so 
many parts or pieces, it is next to impossible but some 
slight oversight or imperfection may occasionally occur. 



21 

T?he examiner or manufacturer then regulates every 
watch or movement, (if correct,) before being sold. 

But latterly, the competition for cheapness has been 
so great, that in many cases the examiner is dispensed 
with, as good examiners are paid very high wages. It 
being necessary for him to have considerable skill and 
experience before being entrusted with such an impor- 
tant position. Also many watch manufacturers have 
not the opportunity of examining every watch, in or- 
der to fulfill their orders in time at the busy season, 
and many watches, particularly cheap ones, are merely 
going machines, and not timekeepers. 

Another fault with many watches sent from Europe 
to this country, is that the oil has not been changed ; 
the oil mostly used in the manufactories will not do in 
this climate, and but few watches will perform cor- 
rectly until the oil is changed. Still another fault, and 
one which often brings discredit on a good maker, par- 
ticularly in cheap work, is that when the watch or 
the movements are cased in this country, the move- 
ments go in the hands of workmen who merely take 
them down for easing, or are paid so little for the work 
that they cannot properly examine them, and correct 
any oversight or imperfections in manufacturing, and 
frequently have to do the work in great haste ; if the 
balances only vibrate with a good motion, it is all that 
is wanted of them. Bad watches in some instances 
with strong springs will go well for a time, but as they 
wear from friction, they require frequent repairs which 
cannot effectually be done, for in correcting one defect 
in a badly constructed watch you frequently find seve- 
ral others, which could not be discovered before, 



The principal cause of imperfect watches is the uni- 
versal desire of obtaining them for as little money as 
possible, and to reduce the work of watch making to 
the same value, is to compel good workmen to produce 
bad work. 

"When an art is difficult to learn, requiring much 
knowledge and study, with years of experience the 
number of really good workman will be few, and 
therefore employed by those who can offer the best re- 
numeration. Few can judge of a machine, the accuracy 
of which depends upon the most minute correctness of 
principle and execution ; it is not wonderful there- 
fore that there are numbers of bad watches, since a 
portion of the public considering them as mere orna- 
ments, or in many instances only bought to trade, and 
not for use as timekeepers, procure them from dealers 
who, however just and honest they may be, cnn never 
possess that knowledge, which is only acquired by long 
practice in that particular art, and may therefore be 
themselves deceived. Those also who in order to meet 
the general desire for cheapness sell at low prices, can 
only do so by producing inferior watches, for a greater 
division of labor or use of machinery can scarcely be 
brought into operation. The workmen are therefore 
compelled to do the greatest quantity of work in the 
least possible time, and good work in watches must not 
be slighted. It is often supposed that the principle on 
which a watch is constructed, must determine its 
quality. 

This is far from being the case. A duplex watch 
may be very bad if not well made, and the escapement 
in its true principle. A chronometer watch with the 



23 

same fault is still worse, while a common vertical 
watch may be good if w re ll made. I have seen good 
vertical watches which had been in constant use for 
upwards of fifty years, with new verges put in occa- 
sionally, and kept regularly cleaned, w T hich were still 
much better than many of the full jeweled levers made 
at the present time. To make one watch better than 
another, execution must be added to principle. It may 
be here mentioned the undue importance is frequently 
attached to watch jeweling; many low priced and bad 
watches have eight or ten holes jeweled, while many 
that are good have but four. To state the number of 
holes which ought to be jeweled, would require details 
ill suited to a work which is merely elementary. But 
when it is known that in common watches the holes 
can be jeweled in Europe at less than fifty cents each, 
it will be seen that the number of holes jeweled affords 
no criterion by which to estimate the value of a watch. 
But in fine watches which are jeweled with rubies and 
are highly polished, the cost is four times more. There- 
fore ihe judgment of the seller may be fairly question- 
ed, should he attach much importance to the number 
of holes jeweled. The high sounding description, the 
maker's name, (unless it is genuine,) the offered trial, 
the enticing cheapness, are often effective baits to the 
short-sighted. It has already been shown that the 
principle of a watch is no proof of the excellence of 
its quality, the beauty of its case &c, in no way affect 
the works, and even the offered trial is not a sufficient 
test. The purchase of a very cheap watch may teach 
the useful lesson, that low price is not exactly the word 
for cheapness. The size and form of a watch are de- 



u 

ter mined by fashion or convenience, and although the 
appearance is of less consequence to a person buying 
one for his own use than the quality, yet no reason 
exists why a good watch should not be handsome, while 
many that are showy and handsome are good for no- 
thing as timekeepers,, and are merely useful as articles 
of trade. 

The individual who wishes to procure a good time- 
keeper, should apply to a watchmaker or dealer of 
known honesty and ability in his art or business, and 
who therefore should be implicitly trusted. The various 
prices will point out the comparative qualities of the 
works, for the external ornament of a good watch form 
but a small portion of the expense. In regard to 
choosing either an English, an American or Swiss 
watch,, circumstances must in many instances deter- 
mine that. There are good makers in each country. 
If you have a preference for any particular maker, be 
sure to get one with the genuine name engraved on it. 
For a moderate thick watch, choose an English or 
American watch ; for a thinner watch, or one of small 
size for a lady, take a Swiss one, as Swiss watches are 
to be preferred for small size, style, and lowness of 
price. With the exception of size, the appearance of a 
watch is totally independent of its quality as a ma- 
chine — it may be handsome, yet bad. But, a good 
watch is seldom unsightly, for the knowledge of form, 
indispensable to a good watchmaker, is doubtless the 
reason why watches made by good makers generally 
look well, although they have become antiquated. 
"With regard to size, although there is no necessity for 
the large thick watches worn some years ago, yet those 



25 

very flat and small are deficient in the first principles 
required for correct performance and durability, and 
are more easily spoiled by unskillful workmen in re- 
pairing. Although all the parts may be in equally re- 
duced proportions, the very particles of the metals, the 
more rapid decay of the small portion of oil which 
can be applied, and the limits to the visual power of 
man, must ever prevent a very small watch from be- 
ing as serviceable as one of moderate size ; that is, the 
smallest consistent -with accuracy and durability. The 
large, thick, old style of watch is less absurd than some 
bow made. Eeason may justify the one, while fancy 
is the only apology for the other. 

There are other circumstances which must also de- 
termine the choice. If the purchaser is going in parts 
of the country where he may not find skillful work- 
men in case of accident or repairs, he should procure a 
watch constructed on a principle generally understood, 
and which can be easily arranged when out of order. 

The preceding remarks are all that suggest them- 
selves as useful to the inexperienced in selecting 
watches. More detailed instructions would explain 
the construction of the machine, and might be interest- 
ing to a few, in particular to watchmakers — there are 
works published for their use and instruction ; but to 
be able to discover the quality or imperfections of a 
piece of mechanism so minute and complicated as a 
watch, requires knowledge and patience attainable only 
by long experience, I will therefore explain the differ- 
ent kinds of watches made, and leave it to the purchaser 
to make his selection. 



20 



MERITS AND DEFECTS OF THE WATCH. 



THE VERTICAL OR VERGE WATCH. 

The vertical or verge watch requires to be made 
thick, but on account of the frequent expense of a new 
verge, which will wear from continual friction and 
action of the escape wheel on the pallets, also from 
the fashion of wearing flat watches, there are but few 
verge watches worn now, and those that are made are 
generally of an inferior quality, but there are still 
some few good ones, and when in order, will keep 
tolerably good time. 

THE HORIZONTAL OR CYLINDER WATCH. 

The horizontal or cylinder watch, when well made, 
will perform with considerable accuracy, and if not 
suffered to go too long without cleaning, will continue 
serviceable for many years. There is however much 
friction in the escapement, and a great wear takes 
place if they are allowed to continue in motion after 
the oil has become dry. When they commence varying 
more than two or three minutes a day, they should be 
submitted to the inspection of a good watchmaker, and 
cleaned if neeessary. If they have been recently re- 
paired, it may be only the oil that is worn off the 
cylinder, and by putting fresh oil to it the watch will 
frequently regain its motion and perform for some 
time with accuracy if it was well made. 



27 

DUPLEX WATCHES. 

A duplex watch with a compensation balance, when 
~well constructed, will, with ordinal care on the part 
of the wearer, keep time with the greatest accuracy. 
These watches are however delicate, and should not be 
worn when violent exercise is intended, such as riding 
on horseback, jumping, &c. Another reason is that 
except in large cities, there are in this country but very 
few workmen who understand the principle of the 
escapement properly, and who can repair them as they 
should be. A bad watch on this principle is (the chro- 
nometer excepted) worse than any other, and more 
expensive to correct and repair. 

CHKONOMETEHS. 

The chronometer escapement is the most perfect for 
the measurement of time, and one with the least fric- 
tion. It is the only one employed in marine chrono- 
meters. The term chronometer is applicable to all 
timekeepers, but it is now more usually applied to 
marine timekeepers only ; those being large their several 
parts approaching in size to those of a small clock, re- 
quire less delicacy of workmanship than pocket watches 
of the same construction. The high office which ma- 
rine chronometers have to fulfil demands an accuracy 
far beyound what can be attained by a machine as 
small as a watch. A marine chronometer is always in 
one position, being placed in two boxes made and fitted 
in such a manner that whatever the rolling or pitch- 
ing of the vessel is, the dial is always uppermost, which 
accounts for its accuracy, and which could not be ob- 



28 



tained in a watch, as no matter how well the escape- 
ment is made it will be liable to set or stop by some 
external motion. 



THE HALF AND THREE - QUARTER PLATE WATCH. 




Three-quarter Plate Watch. 

Some watches are made with the half and three- 
quarter plates, on the English principle, with chain 
and fusee. The idea first originated with Mr. Dent, 
and a watch case maker, now in New York, (Mr. 
Cuendet, 80 Nassau,) was the first person who made 
the cases to that style of watch in London. The ba- 
lance is there placed at the side instead of being in the 
middle of the upper plate, as in ordinary watches. By 
this arrangement they are enabled to make them con- 
siderably thinner. They are made with cylinder, 
lever, duplex, and even chronometer escapement. 
They sometimes have a cap, and open from the front, 
like other capped watches, but I prefer them without 



29 

the cap, and to have the case made to open similar to 
most of the Swiss watches, as otherwise they are more 
liable to accidents in opening the movements or caps. 
If well made, they are equal for timekeepers to those 
on the old plan, and not more liable to get out of order. 
Swiss watches are sometimes made on this plan, but 
they are usually without the fuzee, but either kind will 
perform well if properly adjusted. 



THE LEPINE WATCH. 




Lepine Watch. 

The watch usually called Lepine was first made in 
Paris about fifty years ago, and I believe that Lepine, a 
celebrated maker at that time, was the inventor, from 
whom they are so called. The object of having the 
wheels held by bars and screws, which any person 
having opened one has seen, was to make the watch 
flatter than the English could make theirs. Breguet, 
the celebrated maker of Paris, made all his flat watches 



30 



after that fashion. He also was the inventor of an im- 
proved manner of fitting the going ^barrel on the bar 
of the ratchet, and also of the key named after him, to 
prevent winding the watch the wrong way. 

Watches made now in that style are frequently called 
Lepine Watches, although they are made with every 
kind of escapement. Like the^half and three-quarter 
plate, if they are well made, the bars properly titted, 
and the spring well adjusted, they will go equal to any 
other kind of watch made without a fusee, with the 
same escapement, except the chronometer, which 
requires more solidity than there is usually to this kind 
of watch. 



THE CHINESE, OB CENTRE SECONDS WATCH. 




CI i lese or Centre Seconds Watch, j 

The centre seconds or Chinese watch is so called on 
account of first being made for China, so that they 
could gee the watch go plainer than by having a small 



81 

seconds hands. They are made with the duplex es- 
capement, and having a very large balance. The inner 
back "of the case is generally glass, through which all 
the works can be seen. The brass works are ornament- 
ed with engraving, which with the bright and blue 
steel screws, has q&ite a showy appearance. I have 
seen many with the plates made of steel, and all the 
other works in all kinds of variegated colors, to make 
as much show as possible. Thirty -five years ago I 
worked <m tkem altogether, and I see no difference 
with those now made. I cannot recommend them 
strongly as timekeepers, in particular now when they 
are made so cheap. One very great fault about them 
is, that the beat is too slow beating a second at a time. 
It having been well ascertained by practice and experi- 
ance, that quick motion watches regulate better than 
slow ones, and are not so likely to be affected by exter- 
nal motion. 

The Chinese always had them made in pairs, and 
every part, even the screws had to be so exactly alike , 
that you could not tell one from the other, only by the 
numbers of the watch ; even in regulating, the hands 
of both watches had to move together. The reason 
was that the Chinese wore two watches, which they 
carried in a pouch or pocket, fastened on each side. 
They say when a watch stops, it is dead, and cannot 
be set going again, and if one stops, they still have the 
time by the other ; but if they both stop, they get 
others, as they never think of having them repaired. 
I suppose this idea originated with them on account of 
not having watchmakers convenient to repair them. 



32 



INDEPENDENT SECONDS WATCHES. 

Watches with a long second hand in the centre were 
made many years ago chiefly in England, for the use of 
physicians, and persons wanting to measure time very 
accurately. But they did not move one second at a 
time, their motion was only as the vibration of the 
balance was one third of a second at a time. By fur- 
ther improvement, they were made to beat one second, 
but still there was a great defect, as in the Chinese 
watch ; when you stopped the seconds, you had to stop 
the going of the watch altogether, and thereby lose 
the time. As a further improvement, you can stop 
the long seconds hand in the centre without altering 
the regular time, and see when or at what time you 
stopped them. They are made, now that there is two 
separate trains of wheels, two springs, and two sets of 
hands, by stopping the centre seconds, which is done 
by a piece placed outside the case ; you stop one set of 
hands while the others keep going, and you still main- 
tain the regular time. When you wish to set them 
again together, you do it by a square at the back of the 
case, without any injury to the watch, nor does it in- 
terfere with the regular time, as they are independent 
of each other, more particularly when the centre 
seconds are stopped. For those interested in an opera- 
tion performed in small portions of time, some being 
made to show one fifth of a second ; they are very use- 
ful, such as timing horses, &c. With the assistance of 
a seconds watch, and some slight calculations, many 
interesting facts may be ascertained. If a gun be fired 
by a vessel at sea, the distance may be know by 
observing the number of seconds which elapse between 



33 

the flash and the report. In mild weather, sound 
travels at the rate of 1123 feet in a second; if there- 
fore the report of the gun was heard five seconds after 
the flash had been seen, the distance of the observer 
from the gun would be 5615 feet, or rather more than 
a mile. This is merely approximation, for the velocity 
of sound varies according to the density of the atmos- 
phere. In dry frosty wea titer, sound travels at the 
rate of only 1080 feet per second. 

A person traveling may ascertain his rate of walking 
by the aid of a slight string, with a piece of lead at one 
end, and the use of a seconds watch. The string should 
be knotted at distances of forty -four leet ; this distance 
is the 1 20th part of an English mile, and bears the same 
proportion to a mile that half a minute bears to an 
hour. If the traveler when going at his usual rate 
drop the lead, and suffers the string to slip through 
his hand, the number of knots indicate the number 
of miles he walks in an hour. This is similar to the 
log line for ascertaining a ship's rate at sea ; the 
lead in this case is enclosed in wood, (from whence the 
name) that it may float ; the divisions are called knots, 
and are measured for nautical miles. Thus, if ten 
knots are passed in half a minute, they show that the 
vessel is sailing at the rate of ten miles or knots in 
an hour, A seconds watch would here be of great 
service, but the half miiwite sand glass is in general 
use. The use of a seconds watch is indispensable to 
the physician, to enable him to ascertain correctly the 
duration of spasms, convulsions, pulsations, &c. With 
the aid of a seconds watch, a person can count his pulse 
when in perfect health, and ascertain the number of 



34 

beats in a minute; this would enable him to let the 
physicians know (when necessary to consult one) how 
much the pulse differed from its usual rate, otherwise 
it might happen to a person whose pulse was naturally 
quick, to have remedies prescribed to diminish the ra- 
pidity, which under these circumstances would be 
injurious. Independent seconds watches if properly 
made, are no more liable to get out of order, than those 
that have only one second hand, but they must be care- 
fully used. 

REPEATING WATCHES. 

Repeating watches are expensive both in the first 
instance, and In the subsequent repairs, and the same 
objection may apply to them as to the chronometer 
and duplex watch — that is, the difficulty of getting them 
repaired. They are however, a luxury to those who 
can afford them, and are as capable of accurate perform- 
ance as ordinary watches of the same quality, the re- 
peating part not in any way interfering with the 
general works of the watch. Minute repeaters are 
difficult to execute, and uncertain in the continuance 
of their proper actions, as the small space afforded in 
a pocket watch is insufficient for the greater number of 
pieces. The same may be said of musical watches now 
nearly out of date. These watches are principally 
valuable as specimens of art. The musical and repeat- 
ing watch together as they were made, may be fairly 
regarded as one of the triumphs of mechanism, which 
unfortunately can only be appreciated by a watch 
maker. The apparently complicated motion of a Jac- 
quard loom, when seen may be understood, for although 



Composed of innumerable pieces,- yet it lists to repeat 
l>i!t few actions, 

Much ingenuity is required for the construction of 
engines of various' kinds, hut frequently the first ele- 
ment of mechanics are sufficient to produce them, 
while in their execution space can generally be obtain- 
ed, and power produced at will. But the complicated 
motions of a repeating watch requiring to be produced 
in so small a space, and with such perfect accuracy 
must be considered as one of the highest specimens of 
mechanical art. The writer when he first arrived in 
New York in 1832, had with him a repeater with du- 
plex escapement ; this watch was made by himself, 
each separate part having been made as he had learned 
the different branches* He brought it for the purpose 
of having a specimen of his work. The first watch 
which he repaired Was a musical repeater, which had 
lain by for sonle time on account of the want of work* 
men to undertake it. It was given to him by Mr. S. 
W. Benedict, "Wall Street, to ascertain if he really un- 
derstood the construction; he succeeded in putting 
every part in good order. They have now become 
nearly extinct, and he has had but few of that kind of 
watch to repair since that one, although he frequently 
has repeating watches to do. 

ALAEM AND CLOCK WATCHES. 

Alarm and clock watches lose their effect from the 
ear becoming accustomed to them. More noise in strik- 
ing is generally required than can be produced by a 
watch, while useful alarms and clocks can be had at 
much less cost. The writer, when apprenticed, worked 
at a watch in London made for Arnold, which contain- 



36 

ed a clock that struck every quarter of an hour, and 
repeated the hours and quarters also at pleasure, and 
an alarm, all striking on different spiral springs. Thus 
with the watch part, it had four distinct sets of wheels 
and springs, and the escapement which was a Du- 
plex ; it had also five spiral springs for the striking. — 
Although the size did not exceed that of an ordinary 
English watch, the cost when finished in gold cases 
was four hundred guineas, (two thousand dollars.) But 
few such watches were ever made, neither ought they 
to be. 

DOUBLE POWER WATCHES. 

About thirty years since, there was a great demand 
in England for flat and small watches, but the difficulty 
was the want of power to the spring. After a great 
amount of labor, my uncle succeeded in inventing a 
movement with two barrels, and two springs, both 
winding by only one square at the same time, hence 
the name of this watch. The invention he sold to 
Messrs. Dwerrihouse, Carter & Co., of London, who 
patented it. For many years after they were all the 
fashion, as by this plan, English watches could be made 
as thin as Swiss ones, and perform better. They being 
very expensive, and the patentees having a store for 
retailing in the best part of London, found customers 
for all they could make, therefore they were not made 
for the trade, nor for exportation. This is also the 
case with the watches made in Paris by many of the 
celebrated makers, such as Breguet, Le Boy, Lepine, and 
many others, having made but few and at great expense, 
they are only found in the possession of the wealthy. 



87 

WATCHES OF FANOY. 

Watches of fancy, such as those showing the hour 
through a dial, changing with a start, were absurd, and 
should be used as toys only-— they are now out of date. 
Some very good watches, are made to mark the 
days of the week and month. There is frequently much 
skill and ingenuity displayed in their construction, but 
the purposes can better be accomplished by a well made 
clock of sufficient power. 

Fancy has certainly placed watches in most inappro- 
priate places — in the lids of snuff boxes, in shirt studs, 
breast pins, &c. The Elector of Saxony had a watch 
in the pommel of his saddle. The writer worked at the 
making of a repeating watch for George the Fourth 
(who was a great patron of the art.) to be worn on 
the linger ring ; he had a cabinet containing specimens 
of every kind of new watch produced, and used to amuse 
himself by keeping them going, to see which perform- 
ed the best. Watches made for ladies bracelets may 
however be so constructed as to be serviceable. I might 
describe other kinds of watches, such as those that 
wind up and set the hands by the pendant. Eepeaters 
which strike the hour on a pulse piece at the side of 
the case for the use of the deaf; others with the figures 
raised on the dial, for the use of the blind, but as most 
of these watches are extinct, it will be useless to de- 
scribe them. 

There are also watches made to wind up and set the 
hands by the pendant ; they do not differ from others, 
only in having no wind-up, or setting-holes, in the case. 
If they are well made, they are very convenient, as it 
saves a key, but if the winding-up part is not very cor-, 
rect, they are very troublesome and expensive. 
3 



88 



AMEBIC AN WATCHES. 



This watch recommends itself for the simplicity of 
its construction, and will be continually improving in 
quality, if the manufacture remains in the hands of 
persons who will make it of a good quality, without 
regard to price. In case ot accident it is easily repair- 
ed. But I would suggest to an} T of my fellow craftsmen 
having them to repair, to be particular to use none but 
the very best main springs, should new ones be requir- 
ed for them. There are many manufactories of watch 
cases, dials, &c., in this country ; in fact, any part or 
parts of a watch can be made here, and by applying to 
any good watchmaker, he will make them, or get them 
made. 

Watches whose cases open at the back by a spring, 
are not so secure and free from dust as those with a 
proper snap, which can be made to shut close, and open 
easily ; springs are only necessary for wearers whose 
fingers are particularly soft or to raise the covers of 
hunting watches. 

Hunting watches have a cover to protect the glass, 
and it will do so when sufficiently thick and convex, 
but very flat hunters neither admit of the necessary 
shape nor thickness ; in many that are now made, par- 
ticularly Swiss watches, the glass is nearly as liable to 
be broken from pressure, as it was when unprotected, 
and the difficulty of procuring another is much greater. 
When flatness is necessary, an open faced watch should 
be preferred, with a number of spare glasses, which a 
very little practice will enable any wearer to put pro- 
perly in their place. 



89 

In giving advice with regard to choosing a watch, I 
have said nothing but what every good watchmaker or 
importer of good watches will acknowledge to be facts. 

I have divested myself of any prejudice or partiali- 
ity, and have only related what I have learned by prac- 
tice, and the ^experience of forty years, and which I 
have endeavored to explain plainly without any techni- 
calities. 

I will now endeavor to be more explicit, and give my 
reasons. For a large thick or a three-quarter-plate 
chronometer, duplex or lever escapement, properly 
compensated watch, with a fuzee and chain, the English 
certainly claim the priority, they having been the first 
to apply, and the great practice and attention given by 
them to compensation. 

The American watches being more simple in their 
construction, and easily repaired in case of accident, 
claim the next notice. 

For a thinner or small watch, the Swiss must have 
the preference, as it is nearly the only kind of watch 
made there, and other reasons explained in a former 
part of this work. There is, in Geneva, a celebrated 
manufactory, wherein nothing but good watches are 
made, and it is well known to most of the best stores 
in the United States; every part of the watch is made 
in the same establishment I have had considerable 
practice with them, and I have generally found that 
they are the most perfect that I have had in my hands. 

I do not pretend that there are no bad English 
watches made, quite the reverse. I have always found 
that a bad English watch was worse and more difficult 
to put ia good order, than any other. 



40 

For an ordinary or cheap watch, I should prefer a 
{Swiss one, they having the facilities to manufacture 
cheaper than auy other nation. Fine Swiss watches 
are made as correct and as accurate as it is possible to 
make them for the size and thickness, but the prices 
will not be less than for the English ones, although the 
style will be different. Common and cheap watches 
will of course always be made to keep pace with com- 
petition, and as an article of trade. I do not intend to 
explain their defects, I only endeavor to point out 
the merits of a good one. 

I will now give such instructions as I am enabled, 
to keep it good, and it may possibly be the means of 
saving the reader some unnecessary expense, if he will 
take the trouble to peruse this little book throughout, 
as well as save us, (Pivots,) from being often erroneous- 
ly blamed, however honest and on the square we may 
do our work. 



41 



NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AND ADVICE TO 
PERSONS WEARING WATCHES. 



The watch requires care, and it is not enough that 
the maker is one of character, and that a proper price 
has been given for it, unless necessary precaution is 
taken to insure good performance. The watch should 
be regularly wound up as nearly at the same hour as 
possible, since few springs are so equally adjusted as to 
pull with the same force during the whole time of ac- 
tion, which is usually about thirty hours, therefore by 
winding every twenty-four hours, it will leave six hours 
for the weakest part of the spring to remain idle. 

Always have a key with a good pipe or square, and 
one that fits properly on the square of your watch, for 
if it does not fit good and firm, it will be apt to slip, 
often breaking either the chain, the ratchet, or the click. 
If the square of your watch is too short, or worn nearly 
round, get a watchmaker to repair it, or make a new 
one. Be particular to wind your watch the proper 
way. English watches, or those with fuzee and chain 
usually wind to the left, and almost all the Swiss ones, 
or those with the going barrel, wind to the right. 
While being wound, the watch should be held steadily 
in one hand, so as to have no circular motion, which 
always produces variation in the vibration of the bal- 
ance, and sometimes considerable derangement in the 
escapement. It is better to keep a watch continually 
going, than to lay it by and wind it up occasionally. 



42 



The going of the watch l^eeps the oil in a limpid state, 
and the watch keeps its regulation better. Many will 
(when their watch is first wound up, after having lain 
by for some time,) say, " I have not wound or used it 
for so long." They do not consider that the oil will 
thicken or evaporate, and cannot be in the same state 
as if the watch was kept going regularly. Always 
wind steadily and slowly, holding on the key to hold 
the spring, while the click slips from one tooth to the 
other, otherwise there is danger of breakage of chains, 
clicks, ratchets, &c. The chain or spring is sometimes 
broken by winding a watch too fast. When a watch 
stops in winding it, if in one with a chain, it is fre- 
quently by the going fuzee works not being correct, or 
it may stop by the escapement not being correct. In a 
watch without a chain, it may also be by some defect 
in the escapement, or by the stop works on the barrel 
being out of order ; in either case, take it to a watch 
maker. 

Watches frequently stop by the springs breaking, 
owing to the changes of the atmosphere, particularly 
in cold weather. That is one of the accidents which 
cannot possibly be avoided by the best workmen, and 
in the very best watches. It is impossible to make 
a main spring which will not be influenced by the sud- 
den changes of the weather. Therefore, if the spring 
of your watch breaks, do not blame the watchmaker, 
as they often break from the same cause while the 
watch is in his care. I have frequently on taking 
watches out of the safe in the morning, that had 
been put in good order on the previous evening, found 
several with the springs broken ; in that case, it is ge- 



43 

nerally more loss to the workman, than to the wearer 
of the watch. 

Be not afraid that your watch will not go as well 
after a new spring has been put in, as before ; if a good 
new spring has been properly put in, your watch will 
go as well as ever. 

English, or watches with chains, will usually wind 
about four and a half (4£) turns every twenty-four 
hours, while those with a going barrel about three and 
a half (3|) turns; this will partly serve as a guide to 
ascertain if your watch winds right. 

If the springs or chains break frequently, be sure 
there is some defect in the stop work, which must be 
corrected by a watchmaker. 

Many persons say, M I have overwound my watch ;" 
it may be possible to do it in winding very fast, and in 
a hurry. If the stop works of a large and thick watch, 
or one with a chain are in order, it will take a strong 
key to resist the strain that you can give to overwind 
it If not in order, the chain will break. In a flat 
watch, or one with a going barrel, if the stop works 
are not in order, or there is only one, or perhaps none, 
and you force it, you will break the spring, or some of 
the teeth of the wheels, or pinions^ and sometimes both : 
if when the spring is broken you keep winding, you 
are likely to break or injure some other parts of the 
works. 

Be particular never to trifle with a good watch, or 
use it as a toy, but as a piece of delicate and complicat- 
ed mechanism, requiring great care ; by so doing, you 
may preserve your watch, and avoid a great deal of ex- 
pense for repairs. 



44 

Before winding or setting your watch, it is advisable- 
o see that the key and the inside of the pipe containt 
no dirt or dust that may get on the winding or setting 
square, and from thence to the wheels or escapement. 

When a watch is hung up, it should be perfectly at 
rest. If hung on a round hook without further sup- 
port, the motion of the balance will generate a pendu- 
lous motion of the watch, and will cause much varia- 
tion in the time. Powerful watches should never be 
laid horizontally, unless placed on a soft; substance ; if 
placed on a smooth flat surface, from the convexity of 
the glass or case, the watch only rests on a point, and 
the vibration of the balance alone is sufficient to pro- 
duce motion in the watch. 

Should a watch stop, see if the hands rub on the dial,, 
and are free of each other, if they are caught together 
you may free them yourself by taking the point of 
a small knife blade, and disengaging them ; your watch, 
if there is nothing more the matter with it, will then 
start by giving it a slight shake. 

Frequently after a watch has had a new glass put in r 
it will stop ; that is through the glass being too flat,. 
ond touching either on the centre pinion, or by press- 
ing on the hands ; in that ease, blame the person who 
put the glass in, and let him put another in ; if there 
is .not, as in very flat watches, room enough for the 
hands to work free of each other, it will often be advi- 
sable to have the cover of the case raised a little ; in 
thin watches, the case may have been pressed flat in 
the centre by wearing. 

If any thing is the matter with your watch which 
you cannot discover immediately, do not try to put Ik 



45 

in order yourself, and meddle with the works, but show 
it at once to a good watchmaker. I have had watches 
to repair in which the wearer thought he could detect 
the defect himself, in opening it, he would see the spi- 
ral spring, and think that it was some hair which had 
no business there, and in trying to remove it, would 
spoil or break it. 

Many watches are injured by the wearers thinking 
that they can make them go by opening, winding, and 
shaking them. 

Watches should be opened as little as possible, mere- 
ly to wind, set, or regulate them. By continually 
opening them, particularly the inside cap, opportunity 
is offered to minute particles of dirt from the case, or 
otherwise, to intrude into the works. I have known 
many watches which had been recently cleaned, stop- 
ped by some small particle of dirt sticking fast between 
tlie teeth of some of the wheels, particularly near 
the escapement. 

Should a watch get wet by falling in the water or 
otherwise, if you are not near a watchmaker, as soon 
as possible open it, and pour in some oil, any kind will 
do in an emergency, but olive oil is the best ; as soon 
after* as convenient, place it in the hands of a watch- 
maker, and if attended to in time, the whole movement 
or at least many parts may be saved. If left too long 
without oil, to prevent rusting, particularly if wet with 
salt water, the steel works will be past repair. 

If a watch is not regular in its vibrations, which can 
be discovered by any one having a good ear, take it to 
a watchmaker, and let him correct it. This only an- 
plies to the verge, cylinder, anchor, or lever watches ; 



46 

in the duplex and chronometer escapement, the beat or 
vibrations being very different, none bnt an expe- 
rienced watchmaker will know if they are right ; with 
these last escapements, the ear is not to be depended 
upon entirely. 

In setting your watch to time, be particular to do it 
as follows : — When the hands set from the front part,, 
which may be known by noticing a square above the 
minute hand, always set them with the key on the 
square ; never do it by pushing the hands, as in most 
cases you would break or bend them. In Lepine 
watches, or in any of those setting from the back, the 
minute hand is fitted on a round pivot, instead of a 
square, and by pushing it, you would be sure either to 
loosen, break or disarrange the minute from the hour 
hand, so that they would neither perform together, nor 
point right. 

When the hands of a watch set from the back, 
which can be easily ascertained by their being two 
holes to the inner back of the case — one to wind the 
watch, the other in the centre for the hands — take your 
key, and putting it on the square in the centre, you 
then can turn the hands as you wish. But do not open 
the glass, as, in very fiat watches, it will frequently 
break or fall out, and will cause trouble to replace it. 

In independent seconds w r atches, there are four holes 
in the back — one to wind the regular time or watch 
part, one to set it, one to wind the seconds part, and 
one to set that also. 

Many persons think it injures a watch to set it 
back ; it is a mistaken idea, as a watch will not be in- 
jured by it unless the pinion which carries the hands 



47 

turn hard, in which case it would injure it as much to 
turn it forward as to set it back ; and recourse must 
be had to a watchmaker. 

Sometimes the pinions of the hands are too loose, 
and are too easily moved ; the watch will then con- 
tinue to go, but the hands will not mark the correct 
time. This can be easily remedied by a watchmaker, 
who will correct it without taking all the watch 
apart. Where the case opens at the inner back, care 
must be taken to close it well, as otherwise the outer 
back will not shut down properly, and thus dust will 
Ibe allowed to accumulate in the works. 

In English watches, if you have to take off the cap 
to regulate them, or for any other purpose, in replac- 
ing it be sure to put it on straight or flat. I have seen 
many watches that, by the cap being put on sideways, 
the chain has been pushed flat on the barrel ; the con- 
sequence being, that in winding the chain will either 
slip off the cone of the fuzee, or break. After it is in 
its place, be sure to fasten it properly by the spring at 
the top of the cap. If the spring does not hold it down 
properly, recourse must be had to a watchmaker. If 
the cap is not properly fastened in its place, the watch 
will be in danger of stopping by the balance touching 
it. Sometimes the chain will slip off the cone of the 
fuzee in winding. This is a very bad defect, as the 
more it happens, the more it wears the groove out in 
which the chain works. In this case, recourse must be- 
had to a watchmaker to correct it, or to put on 
another chain : at other times, the chains, particularly 
in cheap work, are too brittle, and continually break- 
a ng. It is useless to mend them. It would be better 



48 



to put on chains of better quality. The English chains 
are the best, and not so brittle as the Swiss ones. 

Particular care should be taken to keep the works of 
a watch clean, even though perfectly free from dust ; 
they ought to be taken to pieces and cleaned when the 
oil has become dry, as, without this precaution, the 
best watches would be spoiled. It is good watches that 
will continue to go, until friction and wear prevent 
their going any longer ; they are the most liable to be 
neglected. 

Watches, under ordinary circumstances, should be 
cleaned every second or third year at farthest. Those 
that are small and flat, or have complicated works, 
require cleaning more frequently. Neglect in this par- 
ticular is the reason why many imported w r atches are 
injured by not being attended to in time, and having 
the oil changed. They may have been made some time 
previous to being sent out ; then the journey here, 
then from the importers to the dealers, where they may 
lay for a long time before being sold ; so that years 
may possibly elapse before the wearer has it in his 
pocket. Therefore, is it to be expected that the watch 
can perform correctly ? If it does, all the time you 
keep it going, you are only causing it more injury. 

No good watchmaker will allow a watch to go too 
long without changing the oil. 

When an accident has happened to a watch, or even 
if it simply requires cleaning, care should be taken to 
place it in the hands of an honest and competent 
workman. 

The possessor of a good picture would doubtlessly 
inquire into the ability of the artist before he entrusted 



49 

it to him to retouch. This caution is equally necessary 
for a watch, as many of the best construction have 
sustained irreparable injury at the hands of unskillful 
workmen. Even inferior watches, which are by far 
the greater number, require the aid of better hands to 
repair than those that constructed them. A good watch- 
maker may, in some cases, by judicious alterations, 
and giving a due proportion, make a watch to perform 
tolerably well, which a bad workman never can do, as 
he does not understand the principle of the machinery 
he is working at, and will more frequently make such 
alterations as only to make bad worse. 

If the watch does not go its full time, from twenty- 
eight to thirty hours, there may be some defect in the 
stop- work which prevents it winding up in full, or 
sometimes the hook at the end of the spring may break 
and the watch still continue to go for some time after. 
If the spring is broken toward the centre, the watch 
cannot go ; hence the difference. You must apply to 
a watchmaker, who can soon find out the difficulty. 
Frequently, after being repaired or cleaned by even 
the best workman, a watch will, when worn, require a 
little attention to its regulating. The watchmaker 
cannot wear all the watches he has to repair ; neither 
can he know the different habits of his customers. 

Many persons will say — " I have had my watch re- 
paired, and it does not keep time." It is often an in- 
justice to a good workman who may regulate a watch 
very closely while in his hands, but when worn by the 
owner, and the different way in which he uses it, 
causes it to vary; therefore, it will be necessary to at- 
tend to it, and, should it vary, alter it according to the 
wearer's use of it. 



no 

Almost every careful person can regulate his own 
watch as well as the watchmaker, who frequently alter 
so many, that they may forget how much and when 
they altered the regulator of your watch. I have often 
asked persons when they wished to have their watches 
altered, when did you set your watch ? The answer 
frequently is — " I forget exactly; it may be about a 
week or ten days." In that case, how is it possible to 
know how much to move the regulator ? It is essen- 
tial, in order properly to regulate a watch, to do it at 
stated times. 

If your watch is a French or a Swiss one, and loses 
time, move the curb or regulator towards the F or A 
to make it go faster ; if it gains toward the S or R to 
make it go slower. These letters are engraved on every 
French or Swiss watch, F signifying fast, and A ad- 
vance, and S signifying slow, and B retard, although on 




Swies Mid Three-Quarter Plate Watch Begulator. 

most of those made now, they are engraved in full, slow 



51 
and fast In English watches with caps, the regulator 




London Regulator. 

is either on the cock or on the plate, and you will ge- 




Liverpool Regulator. 

nerally find them engraved on the plates in full—Slow 
and Fast. Move the regulator but very little at a time, 
until you get it right, but be sure and set it by the same 
time-piece, and by one that can be depended upon. The 
correct time can always be found at any respectable 



52 

watchmaker's. If you have moved the regulator or 
curb as far as it will go, and your watch is not regu- 
lated, you must take it to your watchmaker, who 
will either lengthen or shorten the hair-spring, and 
put the curb in the centre, where it ought to be. A 
watch regulated to keep time in the pocket will, 
when not worn, gain a minute, and perhaps more, per 
day. The regulator must not in this case be altered, 
as the watch, when again worn, will lose as much as 
it had previously gained. Should a watch which has 
gone well for some time suddenly vary a little, with- 
out change in the temperature, the hands only should 
be set, as the irregularity may have been produced by 
some external motion. 

Few watches are correctly compensated for the 
effects of heat and cold, and changes of the tempe- 
rature will produce corresponding variation in the rate 
of going. If, therefore, a watch has been exposed to 
a greater degree of heat or cold than usual, the hands 
may be set to time, but the regulator should not be 
altered. A watch should be made to go to time at 
the ordinary temperature of the season. Cold will 
cause it to gain, and heat will cause it to lose ; thus 
a little attention will enable the wearer to know 
when it is necessary to alter the regulator. 

Should your watch suddenly gain from one to two 
hours a day, which is sometimes the case, after jl 
watch has had some very severe motion, such as a 
fall, a blow, or a sadden jerk, let a good watch- 
maker see to it, and he will show you that two turns 
or coils of the spiral or hair-spring have got toge- 
ther between the pins of the curb, and, giving the 



53 

balance a very quick and short motion, has caused 
it to gain so suddenly. 

The ^ame jerks or falls, &c, may, on the contrary, 
have caused the spring to get out of the regulating 
pins, and then the watch would lose considerably. 
Any honest watchmaker will correct it for you in a 
few minutes at a trifling charge. But if this defect 
happens frequently, or a slight jar causes it, there is 
a defect either in the curb or in the spiral spring 
which must be corrected ; or, if the curb moves too 
easily, that too must be corrected, as it may be moved 
by external motion : then it would be impossible to 
regulate your watch. 

Watches that stop when being worn, and go on 
again when taken out of the pocket, without any ap- 
parent cause, have sometimes a defect in the escape- 
ment which none but a good workman can correct. 
Another fault with some watches — particularly with 
cheap ones — is, that the balance is too heavy for the 
power of the main-spring after the watch has gone 
for some time. The proper manner, and which I 
consider the only effectual means of remedying this 
defect, is to lighten the balance and put in a new T 
spiral spring that will regulate the watch. Other 
means are frequently used, such as new main-springs, 
&c, but, after a time, they will again have the same 
defect, although frequently, if the main-spring is not 
properly tempered, it will set in the barrel and lose its 
power. In that case, the defect can be remedied by 
putting in a good new main-spring. I do not by 
this, advocate light balances for good time-keepers. 
For correctness, they must be as heavy as possible, so 



54 

that the balance can have a good motion ; they re- 
gulate better, but all the other parts must be well pro- 
portioned and made on good principles. Some watches, 
even though uninfluenced by a change of temperature, 
are liable to variation from change of position. 

There are some so favorably disposed to their watches 
as to describe them as keeping time within a minute 
for months, under all the circumstances of change of 
place, temperature, and irregular motion. They are 
excelled by others who say that their watches keep 
exact time with the sun, notwithstanding its well 
known irregularity. 

Watches have been known to keep their rate for 
many months, even when subjected to jolting, hard 
riding, &c, but accuracy under such circumstances 
is accidental. 

The extreme accuracy of marine chronometers is 
partly produced by their being constantly kept in a hor- 
izontal position. Their construction is the same as a 
pocket chronometer (except sometimes in the spiral 
spring), from which they differ but in size. 

Marine chronometers are only required to show equal 
time ; whether they gain or lose is of no consequence, 
provided they are regular and keep their rate. 

Sir John Herschell has well said: "From the great 
perfection of the art, we have a right to expect won- 
ders, but not miracles." If, therefore, a watch which 
measures time from the equal and undisturbed vibration 
of the balance, were to perform correctly under all 
the jerks and various motions to which it is liable 
when carried in the pocket, it would be more than 
wonderful. I have thus endeavored to fulfil, to tb& 



65 

best of my ability, the promise I made. Many acci- 
dents and unavoidable derangements may happen to ft 
watch, which could not be explained here, without ex* 
tending this essay far beyond its prescribed limits, and 
which can only be detected by a good and practical 
workman. 



THE CLOCK— HOW TO USE IT. 

A clock is a machine composed of wheels and pin- 
Ions, to keep up the oscillations of a pendulum. 

The wheels of a clock are made to revolve by means 
of a weight or a spring, called the maintaining power. 
This power must be sufficient to overcome the resist- 
ance of friction, to move the wheels, and to maintain 
the motion of the pendulum. The wheels of the clock 
are connected to the pendulum by pallets, which at the 
same time that they check the impetus of the wheels, 
receive their impulse to keep up the motion of the 
pendulum. 

The escapement of a clock is that part by means of 
which the rotary motion of the escape wheel is made 
to produce an oscillating motion in the pendulum. 
Clocks are made with different kinds of escapements : 
the recoil or common pallets, the dead beat, and the 
free or detached. They are also made with the lever 
and pallets similar to watches, for clocks subjected to 
different motions^ such as for ship's use, rail roads, &c. ; 
but these last are never made with a pendulum* but 
■with a balance. Ordinary clocks to which due attention 



56 

lias been paid to the proper action, measure* time more 
accurately than watches, the continuance of motion in 
the pendulum being better understood, and its irregu- 
larities more easily corrected than those of a balance. 
Long pendulums are preferable to short ones, for the 
greater the length, the slower the motion, therefore 
error is less in a long, than in a short pendulum. Heavy 
pendulums are the best, from being less under the vari- 
able influences of the impelling power, they are also 
less liable to be affected by external motion. 

A light pendulum shows a clock badly constructed,, 
or deficient in the power necessary for good perform- 
ance. On selecting a clock, it should be observed 
whether the pendulum occupies the whole available 
length of the case, if not, it shows inattention to this 
advantage. The only exception to this rule are regu- 
lators and clocks which have the pendulums beating 
seconds, and measuring three feet three inches in length ;, 
this length is sufficient to insure accuracy. Although 
weight is preferable to spring as a maintaining power, 
yet fashion perhaps more than convenience has caused 
a greater demand for spring clocks. Those which re- 
quire to be wound oftener than once a week, are apt to 
be forgotten ; those going longer than a week, having a 
less marked time, are objectionable from the same cause. 
Clocks are frequently made to go only thirty hours, 
on account of cheapness, and wiU keep tolerably good 
time ; but those going eight days, are to be much pre- 
ferred, as in winding, it will frequently alter the time 
a trifle. Small clocks have short pendulums, and from 
their lightness, are liable to be stopped ; they should 
therefore be made as heavv as convenient, and when 



67 

lead can be put into the case to add to its weight, thero 
is less risk of it being moved accidentally. The addi- 
tional weight also steadies the suspension, and produces 
more equal motion in the pendulum, but when the ex- 
pense can be incurred, it is better to have small clocks 
made with a balance, as they can be moved without 
disarrangement. In moving a clock with a pendulum, 
be particular after you have placed it where you wish 
it to stay, to listen if the beats are regular ; if not, you 
must make them so by either raising or lowering one 
side of the clock. Should it be a hanging clock, some- 
thing should be put at the sides to keep it steady, and 
in its place, otherwise frequently in winding it, it may 
get disarranged from its beats, and stop. The heavier 
the pendulum is, the better is must be in beat. Clocks 
on brackets, or on feet for mantels, &c, can be put in 
beat by raising or lowering one side to make it beat 
regular. Clocks are regulated by lengthening the pen- 
dulum to make them lose, and by shortening it, to make 
^them gain. This is done either by the insertion of a 
key to turn an arbor or square, which lengthens or 
shortens the pendulum, or by turning a nut for the 
same purpose. Nearly all fine French clocks have the 
pendulum hung on a fine spring; these mostly regulate 
by a square at the top of the dial ; others have them 
hanging on a piece of silk, with one end fastened 
around a wire, which is turned either from the back of 
the clock by a knob at the end of the wire,, around which 
the silk winds itself, or else by a square, to which "a 
key is fitted in the front part of the clock. All clocks 
whether regulated from the back or front, are made to 
gain by turning the key or nut to the right, the way in 



58 

which the hands set forward, and the contrary to make 
it go slower. When the screw is under the weight of 
the pendulum, it is also turned in the same direction ; 
but when the screw is above the weight, the rule is re- 
versed. Do not move the hands of your clock back 
past the twelve, or you will disarrange the striking. To 
correct the striking, the hands can be moved rapidly 
forward until they are made to correspond with the 
hour struck ; or the minute hand may be advanced to 
within two ' or three minutes of the hour, and then 
brought back sufficiently to allow the clock to strike, and 
is repeated until the hour struck is the same as shown 
by the hands, which should be set forward to show the 
proper time, suffering each intervening hour to be 
struck progressively. This applies to French clocks, 
and to most of the American ones ; some however, are 
made with a small rod in the case under the dial, which 
by being either pushed or pulled, will make the clock 
strike ; in this case, make it strike each hour separate- 
ly, until you get it correct. But should the hours not 
strike regular in succession, then show it to some clock 
maker, for there is a defect which he can correct. 

The hands of English clocks, u with few exceptions," 
may be turned either way without injury,, the same as 
with a watch, except when having an alarum. 

This is all that suggests itself to me as being useful 
to the public, except this caution ; if there is anything 
that you do not understand when a clock is out of order 
it is better to apply to a clockmaker, than to attempt to 
correct it yourself, as by so doing r you make bad worse, 
and increase the cost of repairing. 

A life like mine devoted to measuring the flight of 



59 

time, admonishes me that there is a time for all things; 
a time to begin and a time to end. I therefore conclude 
in the earnest hope that those who have attentively 
read my remarks, will not consider it time misspent, 
but feel that they have thereby added to their stock of 
useful knowledge. If I have accomplished this, I shall 
not repent that I for a time exchanged the work bench 
for the writing desk, and I shall return to the work- 
bench to continue as I have for so many years hereto- 
fore been, the public's most faithful and efficient ser- 
vant, to make, examine, or repair it's watches ; and 
when run down, hope to be wound up by my Maker, 
and set eternally going in the life to come. 

And now my task being ended, I cast it on the 
waters, saying — 

" Go thy ways ; 
And if, as I believe, thy vein be good, 
The world will find thee after many days. 1 ' 

THE AUTHOK. 



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